Toy railway



M-Odel.)

' J. D. F.. MEIER.

TOY RAILWAY. 'No.268.920. Patented Dec'. 12, 18182...

4. ATTORNEYS.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN D. FREDMMEIER, OF OSHKOSH, WISCONSIN.

TOY RAILWAY.

SPECIFICATION forming part of `Letters Patent No. 268,920, dated'December 12, 1882.

Application mea october 1e, 1882. (No modem' To all whom t may concern.-Y

Be it known that -`l, JOHN D. F. METER, of Oshkosh, in the county ofWinnebago and `State of Wisconsin, have inventeda new and Improved ToyRailway, ot' which the following` is a fnll,clear, andexact description.

The ohjectof my invention is to provide a new and improved toy railway,which affords great alnusementto children and adults.

The invention consists in a board divided into tracksand depot-spaces ofdil'erentcolors by strips, and provided with switches, on which tracks,sliding locomotives, and cars are moved t'rom one station-space to theother, on which cars dii'erent-colored blocks are placed, whichrepresent freight or passengers.

Reference is to be bad to the accompanying drawings. forming part ofthis specification, in which similar letters ot' reference indicatecorresponding parts in both the gures.

Figure l is a plan view of one side of the track-board of myimproved toyrailway. Fig.

2 is a plan view -ot' the other side of the same.

The board A, which has its corners rounded, is provided with` rim a., ofrattan strips or other suitable material. -By means ot' strips B, ofrattan or other suitable material, tracks O are formed on the surfacesof the board, between which tracks sliding locomotives 0 and ilat cars Dand box-cars E can be moved.Y If desired, the locomotives and cars canbe provided with wheels. Switches F are provided to switch the cars fromone track to another, as may he desired. The strips B also formsurrounded spaces on the boards, which spaces are called depots, andhave each a diierent color. Colored spots G between the tracks at thedepots indicate where the trains must stop for each depot. On onesurface of the board, as shown in Fig; 1, I have provided live switches,F, and four depots, H', H2, H3, and H4, each of a different color. Inthe other side of the board (shown in Fig. 2) I have provided fourswitches, F, and two depots, J J2, each of a diiferent color. Colored`blocks K are used to representthefreightor th'e passengers. Each trainconsists of a locomotive, O, and two dat cars, D, and two box-cars, E.The trains can run on the tracks only, forward or backward, and thetracks mustalways be kept perfectly clear. The trains are movedd by handfrom one depot to the other. For instance, all the red blocks K can beremoved to the red depot or to a blue depot, and .1n this mannernumerous combinations can be made. Cars can be switched oft'l andshunted, and freight can be transported to and from the, different`depots.

' The above-described gaine gives the child both mental and physicaloccupation and iuduces it to think of various interesting` problems andto solve them' in various ways.

This game will be found to be very usel'nl in ki'ndergartens toillustratehow cars are switched olf, how trains are built up, &c.

Having thus fully described my invention, I claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent- 1. Atoy railway made substantially as hereinshown and described, consisting ofa board on which" tracks are formed bystrips secured on the board, which tracks are providedwith switches, asset forth.

2. In a toy railway, the combination, with a board, of strips secured onthe same and forming tracks and depot-spaces, and of switches formed onthe board, substantially as herein shown and described, and for thepurpose set forth.

3. The combination, with the board A, provided with marks G at thedepots, of the strips B,forming tracks and depot-spaces, and oftheswitches F, substantially as herein shown and described, and for thepurpose set forth.

4. The combination, with the board A, subdivided into tracks anddepot-spaces by strips B, of the switches F, the locomotives O, the carsD E, and the blocks K, substantially as herein shown and described, andfor the purpose set forth.

5. The co1ubinalion,with the board A, having its surface divided intotracks and into depot-spaces of ditterentcolors, of the switches F, thelocomotives O, the cars D E, and the blocks K, having dierent colors,substantially as herein shown and described, and for the purpose setforth.

Joan 1).-EEED MEIEE.

Witnesses:

W. A. PLoETz, FED WoLLEsNY.

